HOW TO SELECT, HANDLE, CLEAN AND STORE SEAFOOD
Catfish products are sold by processors to institutional and retail markets. The majority of catfish products are packaged and delivered fresh (ice packed), individually quick frozen (IQF) or chill packed. 
The traditional product form of processed catfish is the whole dressed fish. This is a catfish that has been headed, gutted and skinned (HGS). However, a growing percentage of sales are generated when the dressed fish is further processed into a variety of cuts or forms, including:
- regular fillets
- shank fillets (regular fillet with the belly flap or nugget removed)
- fillet strips
- nuggets (belly flaps and other fillet trim)
- steaks
During the latter part of the 1980s, specialty products made their way into the marketplace. Whole dressed catfish and fillets, coated or marinated with flavors and spices such as lemon-butter, Cajun and mesquite, can be found in the seafood section of grocery stores.
For more information, go to Carolina Classics Catfish or the Southern Regional Aquaculture Center.
Contributed by David Green
